My father served with An Garda Síochána for 45 years throughout the Republic of Ireland, which celebrated its centenary this year. Events to mark the occasion included this lovely tribute to him, which anyone who knows him will agree with. His care and concern for people from all walks of life was always apparent and he was\is emphatically fair.
Thank you, Sgt Ted Hughes, for your kind words.
On promotion to Assistant Commissioner, he moved to Garda Headquarters in Phoenix Park in Dublin where he was head of HR with a force of approximately 14,000.
Tom Sloyan is a proud Mayo man and every year we pray that Mayo will win ‘an All Ireland’, with gaelic football being the game there, as against hurling which is the game played in Kilkenny where he lives. The last time Mayo won the Sam Maguire Cup – Ireland’s equivalent of the Super Bowl – was in 1951 and while the county has reached the final many times in recent years, they have yet to break the 71 year drought – or the Mayo curse as some call it.
Michael Staines was the first commissioner of An Garda Siochana, appointed in 1922, and he is quoted as saying
“The Garda Siochana will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people.”
Michael Joseph Staines
Dad could have emigrated to America like so many others from the West of Ireland – he had his ticket – but family events changed his mind. And I wouldn’t be writing this had he done so! He met my mother at a dance in Kildare and they later married in Rome.
Lovely words indeed Sgt Ted Hughes. You’re right, he was always about the person, he still is, loves the banter!
Thank you, Tom Jnr!